an idea suggested by a viewer in vermont. thank you for the idea. i hope you got your questions answered. if you want to send in a topic idea, you can put it on our tw itter feed or send an e-mail. session. is coming in they will be all teen the west will be vote on health care repeal today. onorable vicky hartzler to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2013, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour

ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes each, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. cclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcclintock: thank you, madam speaker. just a week after the president extoled the benign virtues of big government and told university students to ignore those who warn of its dangers, americans woke up to headlines that this government has been targeting groups and individuals that it doesn't like for intimidation and harassment. i appreciate the president's sudden interest in getting to the bottom of this, but i must

remind the house that more than a year ago i and other members rose on this floor to warn of these tactics directed at tea party groups by the i.r.s. at the time the administration responded by saying this was just a natural backlog. well, we now know that was a deliberate and premeditated lie. it now appears that nearly 500 conservative groups were subjected to invasive review and intimidation. the i.r.s. demanded the names of every participant at every meeting these groups held for over years, transcripts of every speech given at these meetings, what positions they've taken on issues, the names of their volunteers and donors and in some cases their family members and associates and copies of privileged communications they had with elected officials. in some cases the person filing the request was then subjected to a person income tax audit. there is no way to estimate the

number of additional groups who were discorged from -- discouraged from organizing because of these tactics. it appears leftist groups had their applications approved. the impact it had on the 2012 election is incalculable. this extend beyond a few low level rogue employees in cincinnati. one was awarded more than $42,000 in bonuses while she was directing what the president now calls outrageous behavior. highly intrusive and unwarranted can he hands for information also originated from the washington, d.c., office and at least two satellite i.r.s. offices in california. dr. ann hendershaw, professor d writer, exposed a george

sorros front group. she said the questions put to her during a grueling audit were largely political. and this occurred from the new haven, connecticut, office. it appears that evangelical groups were also targeted, as were jewish group supporting israel. nor was this misconduct limited under groups applying under section 501. i.r.s. officials leaked confident officials to top officials in the obama campaign and liberal groups who illegally published that information. during the campaign, sean and harry reid referenced confidential tax information involving charles and david koch and mitt romney and only backed up when pressed for their sources. shortly after one was attacked by the obama administration for his support of mitt romney, he

came under audits by both the i.r.s. and the labor department . the competitive enterprise institute has just released a damning survey of fee waivers under the environmental protection agency. left-leaning groups had their fees waived 92% of the time. conservative groups just the opposite. about 7% of the time. and this week it also became clear that the f.b.i. is using general warrants, banned by the pourt amendment, to rifle through the phone records of .p. reporters with a clear intimidation to out whistleblowers. we are seeing a pattern of conduct throughout this administration that is absolutely toxic to a free society. government using its powers to intimidate private citizens who are simple low trying to take part in the public policy debate. madam speaker, this cries out

for a full investigation by the congress, and i utterly reject the notion that the ritual naming and firing of a few happenless scapegoats is efficient. -- hapless scapegoats is efficient. everyone needs to be disgraced and disbarred from every holding authority in this government. when the constitution was ratified by the new york convention, alexander hamilton said, here, sir, the people govern. here they act by their immediate representatives. madam speaker, the most cherished liberties of the american people are under attack and we, their immediate representatives, have a solemn obligation to act in the defense of their freedom, their country and their constitution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, madam speaker. a few days ago the world passed

400 million parts per million level of carbon, higher than anything we've seen in the atmosphere for over three million years. this puts in stark focus on the climate crisis and the indifference we're seeing from congressional leadership on this problem. in the last 24 hours, it was all you needed to know about the state of play for climate science and dealing with global warming in two articles in the newspaper. yesterday, the business section of "the new york times" by edwardo porter discussed how the reinsurance industry is entirely comfortable with the climate science projecting extreme weather events. they in the insurance industry can't debate science when they must deal with facts on the ground. this is a dollar and cents for a vast industry trying to help

people cope with the consequences of natural disaster. as a result of the market discipline, they've had to embrace reality, accept it and plan for it. it was poignant that porter observed and probed their lack of engagement in government policies, at least in the united states, that would help minimize future damage. remember, this is even as the scientists told us we've had the highest concentration of carbon in the -- for three million years. in today's "washington post," there is a front page story about fish populations that aren't waiting for their habitat to make it impossible for them to live. species all over the globe are moving. they're migrating to cooler climates. in a process that's been taking place for decades now, fish are sorting themselves out and leaving areas that no longer sustain their quality of life, their ability to reproduce and

to thrive. they have steadily been moving to areas where the effects of climate change are not so pronounced. isn't it interesting that fish, without fancy scientific instrumentation or computer analysis or, dare i say it, political focus groups, have reacted to facts in the sea and moved to where they can function, where they can live, where they can escape for the time being, at least, the impact of climate change? they're also escaping from the people who depend on these fish for their living in the previous habitat, but that's another story about the devastation that local communities are facing because of the climate change consequences. isn't it time that the political process starts responding to a problem that

even fish can figure out? what is it going to take for people in this body to wake up to their responsibilities and act with the same insight as aquatic species that don't have graduate degrees in computers but mercifully for them don't have political blinders and , wasting l fervor huge amounts of time like debating whether to repeal obamacare for the 37th time? hopefully insurance companies d people who depend on these aquatic creatures will lend an air of reality to the discussion of climate change that is almost nonexistent here on capitol hill. maybe reaching the point where it's no longer a debate because it's really pastime for debate. it's time for us to take action, like our friends in the ocean.

if charlie the tuna can figure it out, why can't the republican leadership in congress? let's maybe spend a little time debating with the safe climate caucus this exowe tension crisis of climate change and global warming. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. weber, for five minutes. thank you, madam speaker. today i have the distinct honor of saying a happy birthday to an organization i am proud of back at home in texas 14. i want to take a moment and say thank you to the club where i have been a member for a number of years. they have done a lot of good work in the community and i look forward to the expansion of their group club and the work they will do to better that community. i'd like to welcome the newest ch friendswood, texas,

where i currently reside. i look forward to working with them and promoting american exceptionalism and helping to serve in our community. for those of you that might not know, the national exchange club is a service organization with over 700 clubs and 21,000 members throughout the united states and puerto rico. on march 27, 2013, they celebrated their 102nd birthday. from a handful of members in detroit, michigan, at the turn of the 20th century, exchange has developed into an outstanding national service organization comprised of tens of thousands of men and women who serve their local communities and advance their motto of unity in service. exchange sponsors' activities are designed to benefit, award and develop our nation's youth, promote crime prevention, serve senior citizens and recognize military and public safety service providers.

exchange also promotes americanism, and its national project is prevention of child abuse program. in addition to these programs, the national exchange club has been at the pore front of significant developments throughout american history, including the early history of aviation progress. the spirit of patriotism, along with the desire to heighten awareness of our rich religious heritage placed exchange in a position of leadership with other organizations that led to the addition of the words under god to the pledge of allegiance in 1954, and as reagan said, if we ever forget we're one nation under god we will be nation gone under. the exchange club is america's service club, an organization that promotes american exceptionalism. i'm a believer in our country's exceptionalism and i will never apologize for it. think about this for a second, folks. when the world has a catastrophe, whether it's a hurricane, whether it's a

tsunami, earthquake, whatever it is, when the world has a catastrophe and dials 911, who is it that answers? it's america, isn't it? it's the red, white and blue. it's the land of the free, the home of the brave. for a safe world we need a strong america. for a strong america, we need a safe america. the exchange club works ever so hard to keep america strong and safe. so to them i wish a very happy birthday, especially to the pearlland club and friendswood club. i want to say thank you for your hard work. i'm randy weber and that's how i see it here in america and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, for five minutes. mr. connolly: madam speaker, the nonpartisan congressional budget office' latest forecast says this year's federal ficit will shrink by 41%

compared to last year. that point bears repeating. the deficit is shrinking and dramatically, thanks to the bipartisan actions taken by this congress earlier this year. c.b.o. now projects that a deficit of $642 billion, $200 billion less than projected just three months ago. the lowest level since 2008. just four years ago, the deficit was over 10% of our g.d.p. this year it's projected to fall below 5%. half of what it was just four years ago. now, i understand that this news may not fit neatly within the narrative of our friends on the other side of the aisle who just as they did in the summer of 2011, unfortunately, tried just last week to manufacture another debt crisis where nonexists. i would note that it was only a few months ago we worked together on a bipartisan

fashion to suspend the debt limit. on the heels of our new year's day compromise and the tax portions of the fiscal cliff, my republican colleagues recognized the dangers of yet another debt showdown on the markets and on the possibility of downgrading u.s. credit worthiness, but rather than build on that rare moment of ipartisan cy -- bipartisan comity and put our nation back on a path of financial responsibility, house republicans doubled down. they pushed ahead with their cut, spend at any cost agenda. they pushed through a continuing resolution that baked in the harmful cuts of sequestration which is a self-inflicted wound on our economy. ironically house republicans pushed through on a party-line vote a bill that claims to protect the full faith and credit of the united states, when in reality it would only place it more at risk by suggesting we won't be good for our debt.

furthermore, many of my republican colleagues have relied on this debt crisis on research done by two economists, mr. rhine hart and roga suggesting high levels of pu lick debt leads to lower rates of economic growth. that research has been the foundation of republican austerity proposals in america, including the last three versions of the ryan budget which decimate public investments in our communities and the economy and the name of deficit reduction. -- urns out the research is research data is incorrect. they couldn't read the excel heets correctly. in turns out there is no magical threshold of 90% that always leads to an economic contraction. at that point it's the opposite. raising the debt limit is not a

license to spend more money. it's simply saying america will be good for its current debts and obligations. we have been good for that since alexander hamilton established the u.s. herbtry in george washington's first cabinet. the bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt ceiling expires this weekend. but with its latest forecast c.b.o. now says that that limit probably won't be reached until october, november of this year. most news reports suggest this will reduce the political pressure to achieve a bipartisan deal on further reducing the deficit in a balanced way. i would argue the urgency still remains and that this window of time presents us with a perfect opportunity for bipartisan negotiations to resume without the specter of the sword of dam klees -- damocles over our head. i'm amazing our republican friends continue to shun their own party's heritage of making

the innovation, they are blind to slashing -- they want to slash government spending with no account for the consequences. it must be done with maintaining strategic federal investment and r&d and innovation and others. i suggest my republican friends look no further than the g.d.p. growth from the last two quarters showing it's not the federal debt but the meat ax approach that's created what drag there is on the economy. the last time the republicans paid games with the debt ceiling, we registered the lowest monthly job growth of three years, the stock market tumbled, and s&p for the first time ever downgraded u.s. debt. the latest job numbers show we have been adding 08,000 jobs a month on average since november, prompting a surge in confidence, reflected by the market's climb to record level.

i implore my friends on the other side of the aisle to use this time to work with us on a balanced approach to deficit reduction and economic growth. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio, mr. turner, for five minutes. mr. turner: mr. speaker, it is literally lights out on our military bases. next to me is a photo that ran the other weekend in my hometown newspaper which shows darkened hallways at the largest air force base in the world, wright-patterson air force base. there wasn't a lack of power at the base that day, but a lack of leadership here in washington. the lights were out because the senate and the president have failed to take up the issue of sequestration. sequestration is having a devastating effect on the readiness and the morale of our service members and civilian work force. imagine, going to work and the president feels that you are so

insignificant that you don't even deserve to have the lights on. the president promised the american people during his re-election campaign that this would not happen. but it has. it's time for the president to come to the table with a solution to this issue before our military is irrepresentably impacted. i -- irprep praably impacted. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. kelly, for five minutes. ms. kelly: thank you, madam speaker. by now you have all heard of the terrible shooting that took place on sunday during the mother's day parade in new orleans. like all americans i was saddened to once again see a joyous public event marred by gun violence. yet as the mother's day shooting unfolded in new orleans, i was struck by another lesser known story about the toll of gp violence playing out more than

900 miles away in chicago. it is the story of love and loss told by the mothers of those killed by gun violence who are facing mother's day without their children perhaps for the first time. a group of these mothers gathered at a memorial outside of chicago to mourn and remember their children. as a mother who was blessed to spend the day with my children, their pain and anguish is unimaginable. for every mass shooting that grabs the headlines, there are dozens more that take place on america's streets every day that are leading a lost generation in their wake. yet in the national debate about guns violence, these everyday killings, the slow motion massacre, is often overlooked. and so are the mothers left behind. just as the mothers who wept for their children in newtown, these chicago mothers are also the faces of the aftermath of gun violence. because your child is shot in a classroom or on the street

corner or in a park, your hopes and dreams for them were the same. he soap is the agony of your loss. it is for these mothers, clara allen, tonya butler, angela blakley, and others like them that i raise my voice and will continue to raise my voice in memory of their children. i implore my colleagues in congress to pass reasonable and responsible gun legislation. we must act now to end this senseless killing in our streets, the gun violence. i know there are those who think new gun laws aren't the solution. i say they are looking at the wrong equation. commonsense gun restrictions are part of a multiprong approach to stemming gun violence that should also include increased access to mental health services and better community and social support. it will take a village to save these children, our children. passing sken gun legislation is a key step in the process by

helping to keep guns out of the wrong hands. we must take a stand for these children and their mothers and send a message that we hear them, we care about them, and that their lives matter. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. jefferies, for five minutes. mr. jefferies: thank you, madam speaker. later on this afternoon the house will vote for the 37th ime to repeal the affordable care act. the speaker of the house of representatives has already been on record saying that the affordable care act is the law of the land. it's not clear to me why we are wasting the time and the treasure of the american people on another futile legislative fantasy. in fact, it's a legislative

fantasy that has cost the american people more than $50 million. and if in fact the affordable care act were to be repealed, it would do even more damage as independent economists have estimated that a repeal would add to the federal deficit by more than $100 billion. now, it's often been said that the classic definition of insanity is doing the same thing , er and over and over again but somehow expecting a different result. barack obama was elected president in 2008. the affordable care act was signed into law in 2010. the supreme court with the chief justice voting in the majority

held that the affordable care ct was constitutional in 2012. and in a few months later, president barack obama was re-elected in an electoral college landslide. yet later on this afternoon we are voting to repeal the affordable care act for the 37th time. ver and over and over again. the classic definition of legislative insanity. and this the 37th vote is going to be-- as if the 37th vote is going to be any different, yield any different results than the the ous 36 where we wasted taxpayer dollars of the american people. the affordable care act is the

law of the land. and that's a good thing. the good thing because over the next decade more than 30 million americans who otherwise would not have had health care insurance would be insured. it seems to me that would be a good thing. the affordable care act makes sure that insurance companies cannot deny medical coverage for pre-existing conditions. seems to me that that's a good thing. the affordable care act provides tax businesses with a 35% credit. which will enable these small businesses to continue to grow and flourish. seems to me that that's a good thing. the affordable care act allows young americans who are just

starting out to remain on the insurance plan of their parents until the age of 26, giving them a real chance to get themselves started in their pursuit of the american dreams. i'm new, but it seems to me that that's a good thing. later on this afternoon, for the 37th time, we are engaging in another futile legislative fantasy. there are a couple other things we could be doing. we could be dealing with the sequester. $85 billion in random cuts. that are costing the economy more than 500,000 jobs, but we're not. we could be debating the american jobs act, trying to put the people of this great country back to work andte

economy. but we're not. we could be trying to get a budget, go to conference, create some certainty for industry and the american people. but we're not. madam speaker, i'm hopeful that after this vote is taken we can finally come to the reality that the affordable care act is the law of the land, it's good for the american people, and he we should get back to doing things that will advance prosperity in this great country. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick, for five minutes. mr. fitzpatrick: thank you, madam chairman. i rise this morning to speak about an issue that is of great concern to my constituents back home in pennsylvania. it's the matter of the implementation of the president's affordable care act.

the implementation which some members of the president's party have described as a coming train wreck. madam chairman, that train wreck has arrived. this massive undertaking of enacting such a broad, confusing law has only highlighted the concerns that i and many of my constituents back home have had with this law and what it means for our small businesses and families in pennsylvania. . however, a new concern, possibility more than government-run health care, has presented itself over the last several days with the revelation that the internal revenue services that been targeting law-abiding americans simply because of their beliefs. the i.r.s. now wants to know what we think and what books we read. madam speaker, the president's health care law is largely a tax bill, contains at least 20 new or higher taxes on american families and businesses. that makes it the biggest

change to an already confusing tax code in over two decades. and with the implementation of this massive tax bill comes the i.r.s.'s new role in running it. by putting politics ahead of fairness, the i.r.s. has violated the trust of the american people. at a time when the administration is loading it up with more responsibility and more power. under health care reform, the i.r.s. will gather extensive information about the financial resources and health insurance status of all americans. the expansion of the i.r.s.'s power would include hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes, the hiring of thousands of enforcement agents and a tower of new rules and new regulations. i'm deeply concerned with the ability of the agency and the resolve of the agency to lawfully manage the significant undertaking with discretion and with accountability. while the agency reported that new rules are in place of

situation never happens again, like many americans, i question why this disturbing trend was ever allowed to happen in the first place. the president's health care law does too much to infringe on the rights of the american people and swells the size and the scope of an already bloated federal government which is has once -- which again proven incapable. i ask my colleagues to fully repeal the health care law and in doing so taking the first step to replacing it with commonsense solutions for all americans. like allowing people to purchase coverage, health coverage across state lines, stopping frivolous lawsuits against our doctors, clearing individuals to receive tax credits just like large businesses and letting americans keep control of the health care that works best for them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from wisconsin, mr. pocan, for five minutes. mr. pocan: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to talk about the most fundamental right we as americans have as citizens of this great country, the right to vote. the right to vote is not just fundamental, it is the right that preserves all of our other liberties that we as americans hold dear. in fact, this right is so fundamental that most americans understandably assume it is already ensh is rhined in the -- enshrined in the constitution. unfortunately, most americans would be wrong. while the right to vote is inherent throughout our founding document, and there are amendments prohibiting discrimination, nothing in the constitution explicitly guarantees our right to vote. we as americans possess no affirmative right to vote. why is this important? because without a constitutional provision, courts have upheld burdensome registration requirements, voter identification laws and reduced early

opportunities in states across the country. according to one center, just this year alone, more than 80 restrictive laws have been introduced in more than 30 states. from new york to washington, legislation has been introduced that would require voters to show a photo i.d. states from virginia to new mexico have considered bills that would make voter registration more difficult, and from arizona to tennessee, states have taken steps to limit early voting. unfortunately, this plague of restrictive voting efforts has hit my state of wisconsin as well. in 2011, our legislature passed a law that would limit the fundamental rights wisconsin has to vote. not only would this law require a photo i.d., but it also took steps to disenfranchise senior citizens and college students, reduce registration opportunities and restrict the ability of citizens to receive absentee ballots. but, madam speaker, wisconsin has something that other states

do not possess, a guaranteed right to vote. article 3, section 1 of the wisconsin constitution specifically states every united states citizen aged 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district. this one sentence makes a huge difference for wisconsinites. in two separate questions, challenging the wisconsin voter i.d. law, the circuit court said said these burdensome laws is constitutional because, and i quote from the decision in , the cp vs. milwaukee constitution expressly says the right to vote. but this is not enough. our friends in indiana, as we have seen, have little recourse if a restrictive voting law is signed into law. now more than ever, we ed bero our right to

vote, not restricting it. we need to reaffirm our founding principle that our country is at its strongest when everyone participates. we need to guarantee a right to vote for everyone, so this week, along with my friend and colleague, congressman keith ellison from minnesota, i introduced a right to vote amendment to the constitution that will explicitly guarantee without a doubt the right of the american people to vote. the amendment is a simple as it is necessary -- is as simple as it is necessary. every american citizen has the right to vote in every public election where they reside and congress has the right and power to protect it. no more will americans have to prove their right to vote has been infringed, instead, the burden of proof will be left to states to demonstrate any efforts they take will not deny or abridge the fundamental right to vote. now, i know there are some out there who will say the amendment to the constitution is unrealistic. it's too hard to achieve. but those critics are

shortsighted. this is about engaging my colleagues in congress on both sides of the aisle and the american public to ensure a right to vote is -- the right to vote is not a democratic right nor is it a republican right. it is an american right, and it is fundamental to a government for the people, by the people. madam speaker, i'm proud to join -- i'm proud to support this bill, and i urge my colleagues to join on and protect our most fundamental right. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for five minutes. mr. davis: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i rise to pay tribute to one of america's most prominent african-american businessmen and financiers. mr. jacoby dickins was born and grew up in panama city, florida. one of six children in a

low-income family. the family moved to the south side of chicago when mr. dickins was a teenager. he attended wendall philips high school. after school he worked as a building engineer, saved his money and began investing in real estate. he eventually purchased and managed a large number of apartment buildings. before selling them in 1971. after investing in several bowling alies in the chicago area, he was asked -- alleys in the chicago area, he was asked to join a bank in 1979. in 1983 he became chairman of the board and remained until his death earlier this year. under his guidance and leadership, the bank became the largest black-owned bank in chicago with assets of $547 million. mr. dickins was a great civic activist and

public causes. he served on the boards of chicago state university, the school of business at florida a&m university and the chicago urban league. he donated more than $1 million to chicago state university's athletic center, which bears his name. he was a trustee at the museum of science and industry and depaul university where a scholarship and loan program is named for him. in the 1980's, he was a key supporter and fundraiser for harold washington who was elected the first african-american mayor of chicago. jacoby dickins was a man of vision, courage and determination. he used his wisdom, business ack men and money wisely. not only for himself and his family but also for the

uplifting of humanity. my condolences and well wishes go out to his wife, ms. dickins, their family and all f the trustees and employees of c. wade bank and trust company. mr. dickins was indeed a man for the times and the seasons in which he lived. his bank gave loans in depressed communities and neighborhoods where people were hard pressed to find resources. he will be southerly missed and always -- he will be sorely missed and always remembered. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee, for five minutes. thank you, madam chair. as the co-founder of the congressional out-of-poverty

caucus and chair of the democratic whip force on poverty and opportunity, i rise today to continue talk about the ongoing crisis of poverty and the impact of sequester. we are well aware of the impact of sequester that's having on many, many communities across the country in terms of devastating some of the basic social safety network that we have all been -- that we have all benefited from in many, many ways. they're really very, very harmful to our most vulnerable. nearly 50 million americans, including 16 million children all across our country and in every congressional district are living in poverty. yet, the sequester continues to have devastating impacts on access to childhood education, affordable housing, hot meals for low-income seniors, head start and countless other programs that help low-income and vulnerable americans. but, madam speaker, these draconian cuts are not enough

for some of my colleagues given what took place last night at the ag committee. last night the ag committee passed a $20 billion cut to our nation's f.s.u. line of defense against hunger in the farm -- neags' first line of defense against hunger in the farm bill. the food stamp program is really a vital lifeline for millions of americans. as a young single mother, i relied on food stamps and public assistance during a very difficult period in my life. let me tell you, no one, no one wants to be on food stamps. but it is a bridge over troubled water. and so i am quite frankly appalled and very sad to see my colleagues attacking the integrity of such essential programs for families that need a helping hand during difficult times. as we work to create hopefully a balanced re-authorization of

the farm bill, we must keep in find the people, the families and businesses impacted by these proposed cuts. nearly half of all snap recipients are children. one in five children in america are at risk of hunger, and we know that nearly half of all children in america will be on snap benefits some time during their childhood. that's half of all children in america. not only does snap help put food on the table for struggling families, every $1 increase in snap benefits generates $1.70 in economic activity. yet, if the farm bill becomes law, more than two million families will be cut off from this economic lifeline. with unemployment still at 7.5% and in some communities it's over 13% and the rate of poverty at 15%, again, some communities it's 27% to 30%, ongoing cuts to snap and other nutrition assistance programs

will increase hunger in america and we will see even greater consequences. hungry children cannot learn in schools and suffer developmental delays. hungry children have worse health outcomes. hungry children have bleaker economic outlooks through the rest of their adult lives. but the impacts don't stop there. cuts to critical nutrition programs don't just hurt the hungry families who rely on them, they hurt the economies of local communities as families have less money to spend in local stores. allowing an increase in hunger across america will threaten our nation's ability to develop highly skilled and highly educated work force that we will need to compete in the 21st century. we must not make cuts on the backs of hungry children to balance our budget. doing so would be morally wrong and an economic disaster.

madam speaker, instead of scheduling a 37th vote to repeal the affordable care act, we should work together to find an approach for all americans to help get everyone back to work. we need a comprehensive solution to replace the sequester and to address the ongoing crisis of poverty. that is why we started a task force on poverty and opportunity in february which i'm proud to chair. we are working to build support for comprehensive national strategic -- strategy to help eliminate poverty, grow the economy, and create millions of new jobs. i urge all of my colleagues to join us. i also hope that our colleagues will join myself, representative jim mcgovern, our congressional black caucus chair, marcia fudge, congresswoman jan schakowsky, and democratic caucus vice chair, joe crowley, in taking the food stamp challenge. we need to raise the level of awareness of what is taking

place here in washington, d.c. so what we are going to do is commit ourselves to limiting our food budget to the average snap benefits for a week. that's $1.40 per person, per meal. we will show how vital it is to strengthen and fully fund snap. we are asking all those who can do this to join with us. we've got to protect the most vulnerable, grow the economy, and snap is one of the best programs to do just that. it's time not to slash it but to support it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house

>> michelle bachmann of minnesota is sponsoring the bill. live coverage of the house when they return. over on c-span3 right now, the senate judiciary committee continues consideration of over 300 amendments to the gang of eight border immigration and border security bill. the committee will finish up hearing amendments to title 4 of the bill on nonimmigrant visa programs before they move on to title 3, which deals with the enforcement of immigration laws within u.s. borders. again, live coverage of that over on c-span3. at the white house today, president obama meeting with the turkish prime minister, the two are expected to discuss the situation in syria, among a number of other issues. they'll also hold a joint news conference at noon eastern today . president obama said he'll talk more about the resignation yesterday of i.r.s. acting commissioner steven miller in response to the news that i.r.s. officials targeted certain

conservative groups. we'll have live coverage of the news conference from the white house on c-span3. yerl this morning michelle bachmann, who chairs the tea party caucus in the house, and other republican members and representatives of tea party groups across the country held a news conference on capitol hill to discuss the i.r.s. targeting. ere it is. >> thank you, everyone, for being here. my name is michelle bachmann, i'm a member of congress from minnesota's sixth congressional district. i'm also the chairman of the tea party caucus in the house of representatives and a former federal tax litigation attorney for the i.r.s., as well as the author of the bill to repeal obamacare. this is a momentous day. one week ago today we held a hearing in the house of representatives on benghazi. questions were asked one week ago today. where decisions made about rescuing americans in benghazi based upon political consideration. one week ago tomorrow we found

out devastating information again, that the i.r.s. apparently used for political purposes information about people's beliefs, whether it is -- whether they were religious beliefs or political beliefs, potentially to deny people their tax status if they tended to have beliefs that were against this administration, and then we learned subsequently that applications were approved if they had beliefs in line with this administration. subsequent to the original story we had an admission from the i.r.s. that they in fact made these decisions. this is extremely troubling because the axiom is the power to tax is the power to destroy. and now with the implementation of obamacare at hand and knowing that it is the i.r.s., the internal revenue service, that will be the enforcing mechanism for this new entitlement program of obamacare, it's very important to ask, and now it a

potentially be political implications regarding health care, access to health care, denial of health care, will that happen based upon a person's political beliefs or their religionly held beliefs? these questions would have been considered out of bounds a week ago. today these questions are considered more than reasonable and more than fair for the american people. what you will hear today are shocking stories of common people from across the united states who wanted to be able to exercise their first amendment, free speech rights, as american citizens, but they were denied those rights. why? because their tax status was denied in order to be able to speak out as an organization. we have select collected an impressive group of individuals that have very important things to say to you today. we have members of the united states senate, members of the house of representatives, but most importantly we will hear from those people who are

victimized by this administration and this administration's policies. and first i would like to ask to come to the microphone, leader mitch mcconnell, the republican leader of the united states senate. thank you, mr. leader. >> thank you very much, michelle. eric wilson from kentucky is here, and i first heard about this issue from him in the summer of 2012. and in fact made a speech about the threat of the federal government using the apparatus of the federal government to quash the boss' critics. at the time "the washington post" and others said it was just a red herring. now we know it really happened. these horror stories of the government attempting to quash the voices of critics is apparently rather rampant. and it's interesting to note that the i.r.s. apparently even gave to a left wing group,

propublica, information on one of the conservative groups before their tax status had even been established. this is run away government at its worst. who knows who they'll target next. it's going to be a complete and thorough investigation of this in congress. not only who above may have known about it, but what the rank-and-file believe was their mission. the truth will come out. it always does. it can come out sooner or later, but i guarantee you we'll find out everything that happened. thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. >> thank you, leader. next we have senator rand paul, also from kentucky. senator paul. >> there is something profoundly un-american about targeting your political opponents. whether you are a republican or a democrat or independent in

this country, to take the abuse of a $3.8 trillion government, the power of that government and to use it to stifle opposition is profoundly un-american. i'm a physician. i'm quite worried about the privacy of medical records. i'm quite worried that your medical records now will be evaluated by the i.r.s. that seems to have the ability and penchant to use political persuasion and political op-ed to search out political opponents. i'm very concerned about this. someone needs to be held responsible. someone needs to be imprisoned. someone needs to be prosecuted. the resignation is a step in the right direction, but we need to find out who wrote this polcy, who approved this polcy, and they need to be held accountable. >> thank you, senator. that goes all the way to the white house. we need to know what the white house knew and when they knew it. senator paul is also chair of the tea party caucus in the united states senate. i neglected to mentioutah.

>> these three events that have gotten so much attention over a.p.,st few days, i.r.s., benghazi tend to confirm a lot of our worst fears about our government. they tend to tell us what we don't want to believe but that sometimes might be true. your government's targeting you. that your government's spying on you. and that your government is lying to you. we need to remember that this isn't just an act of democratic administration attacking republicans. it's much, much more than that. this is an act of a political ruling class in washington, regardless of political affiliation, targeting the american people. we have to remember that when the federal government gets too big, it becomes unmanageable. in this respect i agree wholeheartedly with what david axlerod said yesterday. i don't think i ever uttered those words before.

but he said that the federal government is simply too vast for the president of the united states to control. to manage, supervise appropriately. he's right. no one can manage something this big. therein lies the problem. our federal government while created for purposes james madison described as few and defined, has become a government without limit, without end. no one can manage a $4 trillion annual government. no one certainly can manage a $5 trillion government. we don't want it to become that. we need to roll it back. we need to return it to a simpler, more manageable government. because that's the only way that we are ever going to prevent things like this from happening. when it gets too big, it gets too expensive. when that happens nobody's going to be able to manage the whole thing effectively. and when that happens, people are going to be targeted. they'll be targeted unflare. we need to simplify our laws and downsize our federal government. thank you. >> thank you. a man who has been fearless in

asking the tough questions in the last few months of texas, senator ted cruz. >> thank you very much. i begin by thanking michel for organizing this. thanking our friends from the house for your leadership on this important issue and thanking the men and women across the country who have come up here to join us today, including a number of texans, my friend katrina and toby, who devoted thousands of hours of their lives to try to turn this country around. thomas jefferson told us when government fears the citizens, there is liberty. but when citizens fear the government, there is tyranny. the last couple of weeks we have had a series of disturbing revelations all of which share common elements between benghazi, the i.r.s., and the h.h.s. secretary pressuring private companies to support political efforts to support

obamacare, the unifying themes in those pattern are, number one, an arrogance and view of government, the machinery of government as a tool for partisan ends. a tool to be put in place in partisan politics, to punish your political enemies. number two, a really dismaying willingness to mislead and to deceive the american people. i think the american people have every right to expect better. the men and women who are here today are here because they are working to try to hold their elected officials accountable, to hold us accountable. and that is exactly their prerogative, protected in the constitution, protected in the bill of rights to hold every one of us accountable, and the idea that the federal government and the i.r.s. in particular would be targeting citizens and in particular looking that they had the temerity to speak out, exercise their constitutional right to speak the truth, they would be subjected to special

harassment, special scruteny, special targeting. seems to me there are a great many questions that need to be asked, including who knew about this, who didn't act to stop it, whose favorite was being curryed doing this. one of the most disturbing stories i read on the i.r.s. was that confidential taxpayer records were handed over to the co-chairman of president obama's presidential campaign in the middle of the campaign. if the federal government is being made to behave as if it is an arm of a political partisan campaign apparatus, we are losing the constraints that the constitution is meant to put on our government. i'm so thankful for the citizens who are here today to hold all of us accountable. >> thank you. we also have with us a significant number of members of the united states congress, congressman joe barton of texas, congresswoman black of the state of tennessee, we have

congressman jim briden stein, congressman paul broun from georgia, congressman john fleming from louisiana, congressman bill flores from texas, congressman louie gohmert also from texas. congressman tim huelskamp from kansas. congressman randy hultgren. we have congressman steve king of identify wafment. congressman jack kingston of georgia. congressman doug lamborn from colorado. congressman james lankford from oklahoma. congressman rick mulvaney from south carolina. congressman ted poe from texas. congressman matt salmon, as well as congressman tim walberg from michigan, and congressman jeff duncan from south carolina among others. now we'd like to present to you real people who have been adversely affected by the actions and decisions by the i.r.s. and who knows who else who made these decisions to attack the liberties of the american people. first we'll hear from diane bellson, from lawrence county

tea party. >> hi. i'm diane representing lawrence county tea party. our group filed for 501-c-4 status with the i.r.s. in june of 2010, and we heard nothing for over two years, and then right before the election we received communication from the i.r.s. requesting lengthy amounts of information, and at that point i contacted the acl james who has been representing other groups. we knew this was a pattern and they represented us, and we complied as best we could with the questions the first time. we sent that in in january. they wanted more information. we sent more things in. that ended march 5, and we still have not received any word from the i.r.s. almost three years later we are still in the dark as to whether we are getting approved for 501-c-4 status. .

you know, we live in a free republic. and when you think about obamacare being implemented and 16,000 more people being added to the i.r.s., are they going to be next determine who will get health care based on your political views? so i have a very simple solution to this. let's abolish the i.r.s. and institute something like a fair tax which will make things simpler and let's repeal obamacare. thank you. >> thank you, diane. also, a tea party leader across the united states who has been adversely affected from the ohio liberty commission, mr. tom. thank you, tom. >> thank you. we're here today not to represent ourselves or even to represent the millions of tea party people from around this nation. we're here today to represent all the american people who want what we all want and that's our constitutional rights, who want the freedom of

speech, freedom of assembly that we're entitled to under our constitution. and thirst targeting is evidence that we were being denied that opportunity. and while we are grateful for our representatives for taking this on and trying to find the truth about this, we're not here to speculate how far this goes. the wheels of justice are turning and they'll find that out. what we're here is to put real faces to the stories. we're here to give you marianne from fremont that was asked which books they read. and john brenneman who is a cincinnati tea party leader whose wife and he were personally audited because the i.r.s. said they were members of the tea party. this is an out-of-control government, and as one of the senators said, you know, the whole problem is too much government. you know, government is too large. but the real heroes, you know, real heroes are the moms and pops and aunts and uncles who are members of the tea party movement who stood up and who didn't need to be told, you know, what was right and wrong.

the people, we wrote this letter february 16 and said we will not comply because we know what's right and wrong. that's what the story is. i asked people and the american public to go to your local tea party website and take another look at the tea party because we're standing up for the rights of everyone. i thank the aclj. i thank the tea party patriots and freedom works for make it possible for bringing these people here and we look forward to meeting you. thank you very much. >> thank you, tom. the aclj is the american center for law and justice. we have with us next jenny beth martin who is the head of the ea party patriots. >> the i.r.s. very near of imparticulate -- veneer of imparticulate is shattered and the i.r.s. must be audited. tea party insists on transparent, outside and thorough investigation because the i.r.s. cannot be trusted to

self-police. and the justice department is suffering from an extreme lack of credibility at this moment. tea party groups have been waiting for years for the i.r.s. to treat us fairly and equally. instead, they have singled us out and discriminated and persecuted us. government agents have used the i.r.s. as a weapon to silence speech, harass innocent americans and perhaps sway elections. it took over a year to get answers from the inspector general's investigation which was sparked when landmark legal foundation asked for questions -- asked questions in march of 2012. the answers in this week's report even has more questions. for instance, who at the i.r.s. began targeting groups? why were we targeted but groups with progress in their name

were not? we still do not have answers to the most basic questions. all tea party groups -- all tea party patriot groups who've a n from the last year and half have cover-up and cont. in the past week they are coming out for the american public to see as well. the damage the i.r.s. has caused may be immeasurable. there are concrete monetary damages. they are individuals like justin thomas who the i.r.s. targeted by name. there are groups and volunteers who gave up collectively petitioning their government and others who never even attempted to apply for tax-exempt status because they saw what other citizens were enduring. there are groups like tea party patriots who till this day the i.r.s. is still stringing along. how do we measure the impact of alic o isg

faith in the i.r.s. and its ability to impartially apply the law in a fair and equal manner to all citizens? it is easy to dismiss theoretical faceless groups. the pain and suffering that the government inflicted upon our fellow citizens is real and profound. these are americans who simply care enough about our country to become actively engaged in a representative democracy. tea party patriots brought many of these groups to d.c. as time would allow. today we stand with patriots like joe and jerry from myrtle beach tea party. they believe they lost 100 members as a result of the overbearing nature of the i.r.s.'s inquisition and they still have not received word from the i.r.s. julia hodges from the mississippi tea party withdraw their group's application after months of delayed tactics designed to intimidate americans. the i.r.s. questioned marianne

bauer and her group, american patriots against government excess, asking for a list of every book their group had read and a book report on each book. a government this intrusive a clearly accepted. we also join those across the country who have felt abused and threatened by the i.r.s. tea party patriots has not backed down and we will keep fighting. if you want to start a tea party group, sign up with tea party patriots and we will help you. we will not allow the i.r.s. or any branch of the government or any government agency to take away our first amendment rights or any of our constitutional rights. the i.r.s. is thuggish, discriminatory, abusive schemes and tactics perfectly illustrate why we must have a government that is constitutionally limited. meaning we must have a government small enough to manage and execute its duties

competently and with integrity. and most importantly, a government we the people can trust. that's how a constitutionally limited government operates and that's what tea party patriots has fought for over the last four years. >> thank you, jenny beth. [applause] >> the tea party movement has been falsely aligned from its inception because it was feared. it was feared because it was an organic, spontaneous uprising against big government, against the bailouts, against the trillion-dollar stimulus and also against obamacare and dodd-frank. this is a spontaneous movement and one that the administration obviously wanted to silence, but it's also important to know what the tea party is. they stand for three very simple american concepts and they are these -- number one, we believe that the american people are taxed enough already. we believe that government should not spend more money that it takes in. and number three, we believe that the american government

should follow the constitution of the united states. that's what the tea party believes. xt we'll be hearing from amy of the tea party express. jordan sekulw of the american center for law and justice. they have been mentioned. >> thank you, congresswoman. i want to say thank you to congresswoman bachmann and members of the house and senate who are standing next to people like tom, one of our clients, who got approved by the i.r.s. in january of 2013, little bit after the election, right, when he applied in 2010. and diane who is still waiting. we are now and we have announced over about 16 of our clients out of the 27 we have represented since march of 2012 are here with us today. we have 17 clients ready to sue the i.r.s. and bring legal action which regardless if they are proved by friday -- we set a noon deadline for approval

for our 10 remaining clients. even if that deadline is met for them, we got clients who were approved, like tom and others, that were not able. they suffered damages. they lost membership and donations. they missed the election cycle. they missed key moments. they were not able to bring speakers in. so the i.r.s., this is far from over even if they do approve the remaining groups. notice in that inspector general's report that zero groups have been denied. zero groups that were denied that fell in this category but 28 withdrew. we also got some of our clients who withdrew because they just were sick and tired of fighting with the i.r.s. and basically their organization was destroyed through this process who are now ready to start fighting again. so this is far from over, and for any of the organizations out there, if they are interested in taking legal action here, whether they were approved late or they have not been approved, go to aclj.org. give us a call. contact us, give us an email.

we don't charge for our services. i have to thank finally the tea party leaders, because without them, without our 27 clients and the other groups that spoke out, do you think we would have figured out this was happening a year ago? if they didn't fight back they would have withdrawn. most people would have gotten these questions from the i.r.s. and would have said, thank you very much, i am not dealing with this. membership list, books you are reading. are you thinking about maybe running for public office one day? this is not only unconstitutional, it's illegal. the department of justice and our government will have -- and our members of congress can find out if it's criminal. but we're going to handle the civil site side of this as well. we have clients who were damaged if they got approved wo or 2 1/2 years later, one applied at the end of 2009 and has still not been approved. thank you to the clients who were brave to take on the i.r.s. >> thank you, jordan. we appreciate your presence. we also have from the teaparty

.net, todd. good morning, everyone.e. my name is todd and founder of the teaparty.net. we are i want to thank the press for being here. welcome back from your 4 1/2-year vacation and covering

events like this. the i.r.s. event, the scandal is a pattern, actually. it's not an isolated event. this is why we started tea party organizations over three years ago. so with the seizing of the phone records, this is not a left or right issue. it's an american issue. this is one of the organizations targeted. we were targeted. when we applied for a 50 -c-4 over three years ago and to date have not received the status. e've had three rounds of questions. he first round was accepted. they wanted things like our donor lists, private emails for the last three years. our facebook information. we have two million people on acebook. personal information on american citizens. and we're not about to give . want to thank

you. >> we have next from freedom works, mr. adam brandon. >> good morning, everyone. what are the implications for 2013? and one thing i don't know -- i don't want anyone to one thing we've een trying to do is not just and that's why having, you

know, the legal status that -- [no en asked is so audio] as you can tell we are having some audio problems with this news conference from early on capitol hill. we will fix it and from a complete version for you available on our video library. we'll show it to you later in our program schedule. obviously some problems with that tape. we can tell you coming up in about 45 minutes the house will gavel back in and the main business of the day is a bill by michele bachmann. this is a repeal of the 2010 health care law. we spoke to a capitol hill reporter for a preview. >> jennifer haberkorn is health

reporter for "politico." why are house republicans setting up another bill on repealing the health care law of 2010? >> well, they really got some opposition from their freshmen members and most conservative members saying that the house isn't doing enough to repeal the health law. obviously president obama has been re-elected. this is his law and he's never going to allow repeal to get past his desk, but that doesn't mean house republicans don't want to make a statement and make it clear to the public that they continue to fight this law. >> how many times have house republicans tried to repeal the law? >> this will be the 37th vote to repeal a portion of the law. there's been 37 votes, most of them were in the last three years, but this will be only the third time they've attempted full repeal of the law. >> what are republicans saying specifically about the health care law that they say hurts the economy? >> well, you know, it's a lot of things that are going to start to go into effect early next year, there's going to be requirements on employers to either provide coverage or pay penalties.

we're already seeing some insurance rates announced this summer for next year. they're likely going to be increases in rates. they say that's going to hurt the public so that's why they want to continue to put attention on the law. >> so the democrats have seen his debate before. you mentioned all the other times attempts at repealing or votes on repeal anyway. what are democrats saying on this go around? >> they basically will say this is more of the same and congress could spend their time oing better things that help the economy. they say it's wasting this time and taxpayer money that the senate won't take up and the president would certainly veto if it ever got that far. >> you mentioned there are a number of parts of the law that will be implemented. when will the law be fully implemented? >> the significant portion will be implemented next year. that's when the requirements to buy insurance or pay a penalty will go into effect. that's when employers will have to provide coverage or pay a penalty and when the insurance exchanges, which are the marketplaces where you can buy

>> there was a bill that came up on the house floor that was pulled kind of at the last minute. can you tell us about that bill and whether it's coming back to the floor? >> that was the helping sick americans now act and that bill would have taken money from the health law prevention fund to extend the life of these high-risk insurance pools. one of the first pieces of legislation to go into effect where it was supposed to provide coverage to very, very sick people that have a hard time finding insurance. they went into effect in 2010 and set to expire at the end of next year. the white house said that these pools were going to run out of money so they cut off new enrollees in the pools. epublicans said, you know, this is a mistake. you know, democrats -- obviously it was kind of sarcastic but said democrats

are leaving the sickest americans uninsured. so they said this arrangement, taking money out of the prevention fund into the high-risk pools, was going to help them. but many conservatives and reshmen members said that that looked like it was pumping up the health law and they didn't want to do that, particularly because they hadn't voted on full repeal. so republicans say once they vote on full repeal they can potentially come back to this helping sick americans act. i think it's yet to be determined whether that's going to be enough to bring those conservative republicans around, but they're hoping this is the first step. >> well, in addition to this full repeal bill that's coming up in the house, are there any other health care-related

pieces of legislation out there that you're keeping your eye on? >> this is the main one right now. i think we'll see more hits against the health law, but i don't think that's going to be anytime soon. >> jennifer haberkorn who is the health care reporter at "politico," thanks for the update. >> thank you. >> and the house gavels in at noon eastern to begin consideration of that legislation. we'll have live coverage here on c-span when that starts. today once again the senate judiciary committee is working on the immigration and border security bill. the gang of eight proposed the bill, the bipartisan proposal. that continues. now the markup session on c-span3. president obama is meeting with the turkish prime minister today and the two will hold a joint news conference. that will also be on c-span3. again, that's coming up at noon eastern on c-span3. we have the house coming in at noon eastern today. we'll have that live for you. also have the leaders speaking in the house, nancy pelosi and the speaker, john boehner. we'll try to show those to you. until then, a look at yesterday's hearing before the house judiciary committee with member karen bass of california. host: representative karen bass

is a democrat of california. she's also a member of the judiciary committee, among other committees. representative bass, that's quite a hearing you held yesterday with eric holder. guest: it certainly was. it certainly was. i think one of your viewers described it as a three-ring circus. i would have to agree with that. host: what did you get out of it? guest: i think we got much out of it at all. i'm saddened by those hearings, frankly. truthfully, i was a little embarrassed by some of my colleagues, in my opinion, disrespected the attorney general. and i certainly hope that he doesn't resign, but at some point i can see him just getting very frustrated because every couple of months he's hauled up to the hill and grilled in what i believe is a very disingenuous way. host: we talked with this with our fures in the first segment and several of them said it was a race issue. guest: a race issue? host: yes. guest: i don't know about that. i have seen my republican colleagues be very, very

consistent with not just attorney general holder but also other members of the administration. and certainly -- i mean, i sit on foreign affairs and i remember in the last session secretary clinton being handled in the same manner. host: representative bass, speaking of foreign affairs, is that committee taking a lead at all when it comes to the benghazi situation? guest: well, we certainly have. we've had a number of hearings related to benghazi, but at some point i think we need to bring that to a close as well. what i'm far more concerned about, especially because at this point in time i've traveled to many embassies around the world, and i do have to say i'm concerned about the condition of some of them. for example, i was at the embassy in the democratic republic of the congo, and it's a very old embassy, and really in disrepair. and when we are talking about sequestration or when we are talking about cuts to foreign assistance, it just worries me that that also hits the area of security.

and i worry about our embassies being secured. host: i want to ask you also out the associated press and the phone records and -- guest: right. that's terrible. host: do you agree? guest: oh, absolutely that's terrible. now, what i'm hopeful for and i do think we need to move forward, we need legislation to address that. i understand -- i believe it was before my time in congress -- that there was a shield law that had been introduced and didn't go anywhere. i think it's time we put that back on the table and we talk about that. i really hope that we get to the bottom of that very quickly so that we can put it aside. and here's what i'm really concerned about. at this point in time we need to be in conference committee talking about the budget. you know, my republican colleagues said for months -- actually they said the entire last session, entire two years, that the senate needed to pass a budget, the house had had already passed a budget. well, the senate has passed a budget now. the republican leadership needs to appoint conferees.

we need to get on with the business of our country and not be, you know, brought down with all of these discussions about these various scandals. host: karen bass, when it comes down to immigration -- guest: yes. another important issue. host: is your district in california affected by that issue? guest: oh, absolutely. the entire state of california. we are definitely a state of immigrants and the city of los angeles for sure. that's another example of a very important issue that needs to be dealt with instead of us being sidetracked with these other issues. so immigration reform is very critical. host: do you see what the gang of eight, the so-called gang of eight is doing and are you -- guest: which gang of eight? the one in the house or the one in the senate? host: let's start with the senate because they have gotten the most publicity. what you've seen presented, are you in favor of it? guest: what i know of it, yes. there are parts i have concerns about. you know, we'll see what happens over time.

u knyo, there's the issue related to the diversity visas that africans and immigrants from caribbean islands take advantage of. so i think there's several issues within immigration reform that need to be worked out. and i am hopeful and i want to be confident that they will get worked out and a bill will pass through the senate. this is long overdue. host: has this been a good week politically for the republicans? guest: they think it is a good week. they might. they have a stage to perform. but when it gets to what the american people are concerned about, we need to be talking about jobs. we need to get rid of sequestration. we need to move forward with the budget. i don't think any of that was dealt with with this. and then today, for example, for the 37th time we are going to go through the ritual of voting to repeal health care reform. and as i understand, speaker boehner said he's putting it up because the new members of the house want to go through the

ritual themselves. i think they feel as though they need to take that vote to repeal health care reform. so this is about antics. this is about my facebook page and letting everybody in the district know that i'm against health care reform. it's not the business of the american people right now. we need jobs. guest: i was termed out in my sixth year and that was the time i served as speaker. host: could you see term limits for the u.s. congress? guest: oh, no, i can't see term limits for the u.s. congress. i can't see it because it would have to be in all 50 states and i can't imagine that happening. i think term limits was very destructive to the state of california, and i am happy that my colleagues now have the terms extended. so we still have term limits in california, but it's 12 years

instead of six. six years was far too short. host: what's it like to be a nonlawyer on the judiciary committee? guest: well, it's interesting. actually, i found it fine. i was a little concerned about it when i first got the assignment, but it actually doesn't feel any different than any other committee. every committee has lots of lawyers, whether it's judiciary or not. host: now, professionally, prior to getting into politics, you're a physician's assistants? guest: i was a p.a. i started a nonprofit company. host: karen bass is our guest. the numbers are up on the screen. a lot of issues on the table. couple more we wanted to discuss with us as we go. we want to get you involved. we're going to begin with a call from david in maryland on our democrats' line. hi, david. caller: thanks so much. to the associated press, this is the latest example of the loss of our civil liberties, congress' refusal to discuss how two planes can bring down

hree towers on 9/11 is -- what harm could any person in congress find an investigation in what brought down world trade center building seven? host: any response for that caller, representative bass? guest: i don't know if we would need another investigation into 9/11. now grant it, this was before my time in congress. but i know lfs an entire commission that looked into that. so i'm not really sure what the outcome would be if we had another investigation for 9/11. st: and daniel is in missouri. republican. hi, daniel. caller: hi, congresswoman. comment is i noticed on the eric holder. there was a caller telling the

republicans were racist. i tell you what, if somebody has to use the race card to win an argument, how can we really take that -- how can we take that person seriously? guest: well, like i said, you know, i have been in many, many hearings where i feel that my republican colleagues have been pretty disingenuous and disrespectful of members of the administration and that has included people who were african-american, people who were white, etc. i really think that the whole situation that we went through yesterday is a can i it version away from what -- diversion away from what we need to be dealing with. there is time conferees needs to be appointed so we can address the budget. we absolutely need tond the sequestration. i know people in my district are being hurt by it. as i talk to my colleagues, we're hearing about the impact of sequestration all around the country now. i believe thatt's e

business of the american people right now. host: karen bass, you asked attorney general holder about an issue that we haven't discussed. child prostitution, what you called child rape. guest: yes, absolutely, i do. as a matter of fact, this month is foster care month, and next week we're going to have 40 foster youth on capitol hill shadowing members of congress. one of the tragedies of our country right now that i believe we need to pay tremendous attention to is that youth who are vulnerable, homeless, runaway, foster youth, are getting recruited into sex trafficking. and many times you see these girls, they're not always girls, but most of the time they are, they get arrested for prostitution. but if you think about it, how can you be a prostitute at 12 years old? and that is the average age in which they are recruited. and i think that's a tragedy. you know, we had viewed sex trafficking more as an international issue. i don't think there's a tremendous amount of awareness as to how that's impacting u.s.

girls right here right in front of our faces. so if you're recruited at 12, some of these girls don't survive more than seven years. and so i was asking him what is the justice department doing around that issue. host: did he answer it in guest: yes, he did. you poe, there were a couple -- you know, there were a couple of things. one is can we look at really beginning to change the laws. because when a girl is arrested, has that charge on her record and then she turns her life around, like a number of girls i met with a couple of weeks ago -- and i refuse to call them women because they're not. they're girls. they now have solicitation, prost take charges on their record -- prostitution charges on their record and they're back in school now. they've turned their life around. they've escaped the person that was holding them and putting them into prostitution. so i'm concerned about their record long term. host: well, what's this new caucus that you formed, the mass incarceration caucus?

guest: no. we formed a caucus called the caucus for foster youth and it's a bipartisan caucus. there's also efforts in the senate. as a matter of fact, senator mary landrieu for the last 10 years has been the leader on this issue on both foster care and adoption. and so when i came into congress a couple years ago, she asked me if i wanted to take the lead on the work in the house. and so we have an adoption caucus and we have a foster youth caucus and that was the one that i started. host: well, one of the issues we haven't discussed yet is the issue with the i.r.s. i want to get your reaction to what speaker boehner had to say. guest: sure. > the i.r.s. has admitted to targeting conservatives even if the white house continues to be stuck on the word if. now, my question isn't about who's going to resign. my question is who's going to jail over this scandal. host: karen bass. guest: well, i think that we need to do everything we can to get to the bottom of this.

this is, you know, egregious what happened. i was very happy that the president took the move that he did yesterday. as this issue moves forward, if crimes have been committed, people need to go to jail but i don't know if i'd call for that today. host: bobby is from gifford, illinois, you're on with karen bass, democrat of california. caller: yes, representative bass. i guess my question would be, and there's only the thing i heard in the last few minutes that i want to comment on. you said this is not the business we need to be talking about on eric holder. i disagree with that. because our lawmakers' jobs is to keep us safe. to give us the opportunity to earn our own way and pursue happiness as we see it. with eric holder and the president and all the different scandals that have happened, that is something that needs to be addressed now. as far as being a democrat and

saying we need to address the budget, how many years has it been since the democrats have actually passed or proposed a budget? and then with the child rape keas, -- rape case, concerning the long-term records, and when i say this i don't want to alleviate that at all. i have three daughters. so that's a very serious issue for me. when they turn 18 their record will be expunged. to spend taxpayer dollars on that aspect of it would seem to be a waste because it's going to happen judicially on its own. guest: well, you know, i do think that the business of the american people right now really is the economy and jobs and sequestration. and you asked the question about when are the democrats going to pass a budget? the fact of the matter is we do have a budget right now that was passed out of the senate. we also have a budget that was passed out of the house.

it's time we now to set up the conference committee. there is no reason to delay. and in my first term, the first two years, my republican colleagues said almost on a daily basis that was shameful that the senate hasn't passed a budget. that is behind us now. we have a budget on the table and it really should be resolved. sequestration is hurting people all around the country, and that really need to be addressed. i happen to be of the opinion that that is the most important -- most important business of the american public right now. it's not to say that these other issues should be ignored, but if you had had watched the hearing yesterday, i believe it's far more about staging and antics that it is about substance. host: tony tweets in to you, representative. what spending cuts have democrats offered to replace sequestration? guest: oh, my goodness. you know, in my first two years here, all we did was cut. we cut billions and billions of

dollars, and the sequestration is deeper and further cuts. and what my concern is is that people are suffering from those cuts. let me give you an example. i do town halls regularly in my district, either virtual town halls or physical town halls. and i have had representatives' physicians from clinics talk about how they're going to have to turn patients away. they're not going to be able to provide the services any more. i've had parents come up to me with concerns around head start. universities, education, you know, california specifically is finally coming out of the crisis. and i have to tell you that i feel bad for my colleagues in soorkt where the situation is final -- sacramento where the situation is finally turning around and then we punch the state in the stomach with sequestration. so i think the democrats have been on record. as a matter of fact, i get criticized by democrats in los angeles that we've cut too much. in.: c-dog tweets

we californians remember gridlock before a supermajority. guest: that's right. what that person is referring to is that the years i was in sacramento, all six of those years we were in a crisis. and california was only one of four states in the country where you had to have a supermajority to pass a budget. california voters went to the polls and changed that. now california is like the rest of the country. it only takes a majority vote to pass a budget. so that's what that person is referring to. host: bonnie is in middletown, new jersey. democrats' line. bonnie, you're on "washington journal." guest: hello, bonnie. caller: yes, good morning, representative bass. i wish we could do that in our national senate too. you know, i can't remember the name of the republican pundit to credit the comment with, but conserve -- conservativism is a

racket. they just create one manufactured crisis after another or finger-pointing -- while finger-pointing at our most vulnerable. thank you for protecting our most vulnerable children. i do appreciate that. guest: thank you. thank you for your comment. well, let me just tell you that one of the things i love about congress is the history. my colleagues that have been in congress for a long time tell me that the issue really isn't with conservatives -- >> all of this in our video library at c-span.org. we'll take you live to the u.s. house and we'll hear from speaker john boehner. >> it's increasing the cost of health insurance, reducing access to care and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers. this is the third full repeal vote we've had in the last three years. and some critics have suggested this is a waste of time. well, while our goal is to repeal all of obamacare, i would remind you that the president has signed into law

seven different bills that repealed or defunded parts of that law. is it enough? no. full repeal is needed to keep this law from doing more damage to our economy and raising health care costs. but some progress has been made, and republicans will continue to work to scrap the law in its entirety so we can focus on patient-centered reforms that lower costs and protect jobs because the jobs is what this is all about. these are the thousands and thousands of pages of obamacare regulations. and if we want jobs, we need to get rid of this because this is getting in the way of employers hiring workers around the country. that's why we're continuing to be focused on repeal because we want to improve the economy and improve the prospects for creating jobs in our country. listen, jobs is our primary focus, but while we're focused on that, we're also focused on

holding this administration accountable. our committees are working overtime to uncover the truth about what happened in libya, and they're trying to get to the bottom of what happened in the i.r.s. scandal. you know, public service requires humility, and everyone in public office needs to be constantly reminded that they serve the american people and it's not the other way around. americans should never be targeted or harassed by their government for their political beliefs. and if reporters' telephone calls are being monitored, the government better have a clear and convincing reason for doing so. when the american people -- americans are killed abroad, the government should tell the truth, not shade it or stone wall it for partisan -- stonewall it for partisan purposes. our system requires the bonds of trust between the american people and their government,

and those bonds once broken are very hard to repair. nothing dissolves the bonds between the people and their government like the arrogance of power here in washington. that's what the american people are seeing today from the obama administration. remarkable arrogance. this house will stop at nothing to get to the american people the answers and the accountability that they expect. but the best way to repair this damage is for the administration to come forward with the truth, the whole truth so that the american people will have all of the facts. >> mr. speaker, when you say that people should go to jail, are you talking about the front line managers who came up with this inappropriate criteria, or are you talking about the top brass who didn't admit what happened to congress? >> i think i want to see the facts. i want to know how this

happened, who was responsible for it. it's clear that there is law. section 7214 of the title 26 of the u.s. code states very clearly any officer or employee of the united states acting in connection with any revenue law of the united states who is guilty of extortion or willful oppression under the color of law shall be dismissed from office and if convicted be fined up to $10,000 and spend five years in jail. we need to know where the facts are. somebody made a decision to do this, and i doubt it was some low-level employees in the senate field office. >> mr. speaker, there was a letter requested that you support the legislation, h.r. 940. are you going to do what he has requested? >> i have not seen this letter and i am not familiar 940 is.

>> before the house passed the first repeal bill, you promised both repeal and replacement legislation if more americans would support it. are you still planning that and if so, when, and should we expect a series of small bills? >> there was a discussion yesterday about that subject, and i expect our conference in the coming weeks to have a discussion about obamacare and how we're going to deal with it and what replacement legislation would look like. >> looking at the series of investigations of benghazi, the i.r.s. you were here when the republican didn't pick up seats in the mid term election of 1998. grant it, there is an appropriate place for oversight in these areas, but is there a line where the different investigations crosses too far and is a potential backlash for your side? >> that's why i continue to

talk about jobs. it's our number one focus, but we have two jobs here. our job is to legislate and we're trying to legislate things that will help create jobs in our country. but we also have a responsibility under the constitution to provide oversight of the executive branch of government. we have four americans who lost their lives in libya. their families want to know what happened. the american people want to know what happened. we've got tea party groups have the country who their applications for their 501-c status delayed and delayed and delayed. and this had morning i found out that one of them is in my district. two years ago this group came to my office to inform me that they had not received their -- any explanation or gotten their

results and they still haven't goten them. asked me not to do mig- -- still h gotten them. asked me not to do anything but wanted me to be aware of it. you have the justice department tapping phones of those in the media. listen, we have a job to get to the truth, and the administration can make this a lot easier by doing what they started to do yesterday, turning over emails from benghazi. but they could make this a lot simpler by being upfront with the congress and being upfront ith the american people. >> [inaudible] >> listen, when you're trying to seek the truth, and if that is the goal to seek the truth, there is no line. >> mr. speaker, the scandals you've outlined have put the administration on the defense end and put some momentum to your party. how do you use that momentum for good purposes? use o you channel that and

it for the -- >> listen, you got to play the cards you're dealt. some days you got dealt a bad hand, you still have to play it. our job is to remember we work for the american people. and ob is to be fair, open honest in dealing with our political adversaries. but at the end of the day, if we're doing our job correctly and we're seeking the truth on behalf of the american people, that's the right thing to do. >> will it affect the legislative agenda one way or the other? >> i don't think it will. we have a job here to legislate. we're trying to do everything we can to create jobs and we'll continue to do it. >> mr. speaker, as you know, the health care law is not tting any popular in the minds of the american public. do you plan on other votes in the next year, year and a half? >>hen we have fur take we'll le.

>> on immigration, are you putting purpose on the bipartisan group to come out with legislative proposals? and are you concerned that those talks are starting to -- >> i am concerned that the bipartisan group has been unable to wrap up their work. and i know there's some very difficult issues that have come p, but i continue to believe that the house needs to deal with this. the house needs to work its will. how we get there, we're still dealing with it. >> speaker boehner, in light of what's happened with benghazi, the a.p. and the i.r.s., do you still trust president obama? >> listen, it's not about trusting someone. our job here is to get to the truth and we're going to get to the truth. and i know what you're up to. i'm not taking the bait. >> what's your reaction when the president says he's not negotiating over the debt

ceiling? >> well, you know, it's easy to make a statement to that effect, but it's just not reality. the fact is that his treasury department needs to pay the bills. the debt limit has to be dealt with and should be dealt with in a responsible way. he can't continue to increase the debt limit without doing something about what's driving the increase in the debt limit. and that is out-of-control spending. david. >> mr. speaker, republicans have said for sometime they wanted to replace the health care bill with something. when do you think republicans might come up with an alternative? >> we offered an alternative during the consideration of obamacare. seven or eight, maybe nine different pieces that would include things like allowing people to buy insurance across state lines, dealing with the problem of those with pre-existing conditions by expanding the risk pools that

are out there. things like -- one of the big drivers of health care cost increase and that's reforming medical malpractice which, yes, it causes a lot of doctors increase in premiums, but more significantly, there are reports up to 25% of the tests that are ordered are ordered for the only reason is to cover some doctor's back side from the threat of a lawsuit. these are the kinds of things that i would expect and continue to be in our type of replacement legislation. >> what do you think the current republican conference -- >> the issue is obamacare. we are going to keep the focus on obamacare because it's driving the costs of health care. it's reducing access for the american people, and it's making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. >> if the house bipartisan

group can't reach an agreement, what's the fallback option for immigration in the house? >> we'll let you know when we decide, except that i've made it clear that i think the house must act on this. and i think we should do so in a responsible way. thanks. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> the speaker will gavel in the house in about 10 minutes. again, taking up the repeal of the affordable care act, the 2010 health care law. also coming up noon, president obama at the white house, a joint news conference with the turkish prime minister. that will be live on c-span3. just before the speaker had his news briefing this morning, the democratic leader, nancy pelosi, spoke with reporters on many of the same issues that the speaker addressed, including the i.r.s. targeting of some conservative groups and the health care repeal debate coming up this afternoon. we will show you as much as we can until the house gavels in.

>> good morning. national women's health week, again, proclaiming the glories of the affordable care act and what it means to women. i'll talk about that in a moment. when it comes to addressing the urgent needs for the american people, our priority in congress is clear. we must create jobs. unfortunately, house republicans seem to think that their main responsibility is to do nothing. for those of you who were here yesterday, i have lost my voice. that may be good news to some. let's see how far we can do with this. here we are 134 days into the 113th congress without one vote on a jobs bill. 54 days after the senate passed its budget. we still haven't moved forward

with this budget process. this do nn nothing agenda does not reflect the priorities of the american people. it is an agenda that only the republicans seem interested in pursuing. and so you see a series of subterfuges, job evasions. today's job evasion is that the republicans have decided to vote on the patients rights repeal act. heir 37th attempt. to repeal our country's landmark health bill. 52 s 37 votes, 43 days, million -- $52.4 million on an obvious evasion of our very responsibility to work on the priorities of the american people. not only is this a clear waste of time and of taxpayer dollars is the deliberate vote to eliminate the affordable health care benefits millions of americans are already enjoying.

for those of us that were with us yesterday, you got the card with many of the provisions that are already in effect in the affordable care act. 105 million americans are already receiving free preventive services. more than 100 million americans no longer face a lifetime limit on their health coverage. 17 million children with pre-existing conditions are no longer denied coverage. not be g a woman will considered a pre-existing condition medical condition. you can see these are already in effect. free preventive services, coverage for young adults and children. 6.6 million young adults up to the age of 26 have taken advantage of the law to obt

parents' insurance policies. 6.3 million seniors in the doughnut hole have saved $6.1 billion on their prescription drugs. the list goes on and on. needless to say, we'll be talking about this on the floor of the house. not only is this a vote that jeopardizes access to affordable, quality health care , it's a vote that explodes the deficit. i don't know if i have a copy of the letter, but just yesterday the nonpartisan congressional budget office told speaker boehner that repealing the affordable care act would increase the deficit by $109 billion over the next 10 years. $109 billion. instead of invading job creation, house republicans should spend every day working to strengthen the middle class.

it's time for republicans to call for regular order. what they said was they wanted regular order. music to our ears. for those of you who don't know what regular order is, it means you pass a bill from committee, you go to the floor, you pass it in committee and the floor in both houses and then you go to the conference table. in order to go to the conference, you have to have appointees. and so we want to appoint conferees. republicans have said no to that. you're getting lucky. i'm losing my voice. but this is -- they use the excuse that the senate had not passed a bill. 53 days ago the senate passed a bill. so we're long overdue to go to the table. and why is that important? so much tant because is at stake.

we have 750,000 jobs have been lost by sequestration. you know the other list. 400 million meals on wheels, tens of thousands of children thrown off head start. now their parents cannot be parents earning while children are learning. the list goes on and on. not to mention, also, what it does to the security of our country which even senator mccain has said is insane. so one way to get rid of the sequestration is to go to the table and to come to terms to reconcile differences, to have a budget that creates jobs, that reduces the deficit, does so in a balanced way and gets rid of sequestration. how can you call for regular order and not take yes for an answer? must be held accountable. again, we want to create jobs and reduce the deficit.

this agenda deserves a vote. what are they afraid of? are they afraid of the where rency of a meeting in public view, in front of the world, tv and media coverage? their priorities have to be subjected to the light of day? first it's the priorities of the president, of the house and senate democrats, of job creation, deficit reduction, strengthening the middle class. another subject. as i stated earlier in week in regard to the i.r.s., it's clear that the actions taken by some at the i.r.s. must be condemned. those who engage in this behavior were wrong and must be held accountable for their actions regardless of political affiliation or bias, there is no place for this type of activity by the i.r.s. or its

employees. senator lieu was asked to see the resignation of the acting commissioner. there will be bipartisan hearings on this subject in the ways and means committee tomorrow, and i'm hopeful that meaningful bipartisan oversight will be found among all the committees of jurisdiction. with respect to these matters. it's interesting to me because i think these actions highlight why we must overturn citizens united. it has exacerbated the challenge that we have. it's been out there, but citizens united has made matters so much worse. as you know, there's a very thin line -- we must pass a law that makes it much clearer that the so-called social organizations must make their priority -- promoting social welfare rather than engaging in politics.

clearly this has not been -- i paint everybody with the same brush right to left so i think it all should go. disclose. i issued who are these people that go to the 50 -c- because they don't have to have disclosure -- their shareholders, customers, employees don't have to know where the money are going. disclose. overturn citizens united. reduce the role of money and empower people by empowering small donors and removing obstacles to everyone's voting. this is something that i think, because of the i.r.s. issue, has called attention to it. we must take advantage of disclose and amend. it would go a long way to making our democracy stronger,

not having a government of the money but a government of the many, as our founders sbened. with that i would be pleased to take any questions. were you here yesterday? ok. ho was here yesterday? i understand that, but we were having a very important message about women and i wanted to reward those who came. >> rosa delauro, she owned it yesterday. >> wasn't she great? >> out there. in light of everything that's happened with these three events that have been a drag on the white house, do you feel this president still has the ability to push significant legislation through this congress? and do you think that you could once again become speaker because of the terrible pitfall the i.r.s. will have on the 2014 candidates? >> well, the second question is almost irrelevant, with all due respect. the -- >> all of that online at c-span.org.

the u.s. house gaveling in next and for the third time since its passage in 2010, they will take up a full repeal of the 2010 health care law. live coverage on c-span. landry, sarasota baptist church, sarasota, florida. the chaplain: let's pray. heavenly father, i approach your throne on behalf of a nation that desperately needs you. we are faced with much division and disunity if in our land and we request your healing and reconciling touch. we thank you that you are not a spectator god who sits in heaven, unconcerned and uncaring. we acknowledge that the greatness of our nation is due to your blessing and provision and we know you have blessed us in order that we might be a blessing to other nations. we understand that to whomever much is given, much will be required. father, grant these legislative leaders wisdom and courage to make decisions today that honor

you. may your will be done on earth, just as it is in heaven. and finally, father, pore out your grace -- pour out your grace and protect the marriages and families of these, our nation's leaders. i offer this prayer in the strong name of jesus christ. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the -- the speaker: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the speaker's journal is approved. >> mr. speaker. the speaker: the gentleman from illinois. >> i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from texas, mr. olson. mr. olson: i ask members, staff and friends in the gallery to join me in the pledge of allegiance to the united states of america. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman from florida, mr. buchanan, is recognized for one inute. mr. buchanan: thank you, mr. speaker. it's my privilege this morning to welcome a very good friend to the halls of congress. pastor mike landry who delivered the opening prayer this morning is a great spiritual leader in sarasota, florida. for the past 16 years he has served as senior pastor to

sarasota baptist church. located in the heart of my district. my wife and i have had the pleasure of knowing the pastor for nearly five years. he's very devoted to his family, his church, his congregation and serving the people of southwest florida. he has made himself an incredible and beloved member of our community. i commend pastor landry for his outstanding service to our community and to our nation. it's my honor today to welcome him here, to the house of representatives, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair will entertain 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to address an important issue. the attack against america and its citizens by terrorists in benghazi. four americans, including our

or, chris stevens, have been killed. the american people deserve the truth about benghazi. and who was responsible. not convenient stories blaming some -- the violence on some film maimer -- maker's free speech rights. the people who died deserve justice. as we investigate this attack and those responsible, excuse me, as we investigate this attack and the response of this, civilian and military leaders in command, we must determine whether the paralysis that seemed to characterize the government's reaction was the result of individual bad decisions or a broader institutional problem. our military and our soldiers are the most capable in the world but if their commanders refuse to send them into battle, they cannot safeguard american lives or interests. the american people and our allies abroad need to know the united states has the resolve to act in the face of uncertainty. our enemies need to know that when they attack americans, they do so at great danger

americans do not leave our people behind. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? mr. cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: i rise today to honor the holocaust education and resource center of rhode island which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend. i had the honor of serving on their board for a number of years. this wonderful institution was founded by holocaust survivors living in rhode island during the 1980's. it formerly opened its doors on may 51988, and sthains time it's helped provide rhode islanders with educational resourcers on the holocaust and commemorates the lives of the millions of victims of this atrocity. in addition the center works with schools in rhode island, southeastern massachusetts and even the suburbs of boston to teach young people about the importance of treating everyone with respect and dignity and to work to eradicate bigotry and intolerance. congratulations to the holocaust education resource center on 25

successful years of promoting tolerance and respect to tens of thousands of royalers, for helping us all remember those -- rhode islanders, for helping us remember those killed by the nazis and the holocaust and by making the world a better place. i wish this organization continued success in the years to come and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. speaker, christian academy, yesterday, two state titles. they started with the eagles winning their fourth state championship in softball, the .ourth title in seven years behind coach carroll and fox's

12 strikeouts, they crushed christian 4-0. right after that game ended, he men won their first state baseball title with a close 12-11 victory over midland christian. coach rowan and the team never quit, scoring four runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead for good. there's an old saying in naval aviation. don't mess with an eagle unless you know how to fly. fort bend christian men and women know how to fly. they are eagles and they are texas state champs. i proudly yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

mr. tonko: our farms and ranches produce food that greatly exceeds our need. there is no reason for anyone in this country go hungry. and yet there is a daily reality that is faced by many poor families. the food stamp programs provides a small but essential safety net to meet the nutritional needs of children, the elderly, the disabled and those who fall on hard times when our economy sheds jobs. the proposed cuts to the food stamp program, included in the house farm bill, are unacceptable and cruel. poor nutrition leads to poor health outcomes and long-term developmental problems in children. it does not save money. it simply transfers costs to those who cannot pay those costs and needlessly increases suffering. we can afford to feed all of our citizens. a farm and food policy that cannot deliver nutritious meals to all americans is indeed failed policy. we can and must do better.

with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, the president made a pledge to americans. if you elected me and you like your current health care, you'll be able to keep it. mr. collins: the reality today is that nearly seven million people are set to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance when the president's health care law goes into full effect. on january 1, many americans will be forced into an exchange program that has not even been set up. nancy pelosi promised the american people, congress must pass the bill so you can find out what's in it. the democratic-controlled house passed the bill four years ago. they didn't know what was in the bill then and they don't know what is in it now. mr. scott: they don't know what options are available to them. what we do know is that

consumers are already looking at sharp premium increases. the very people who were promised the most, those young people under the age of 29 are expected to get increases somewhere in the range of 200%. this is unacceptable,eaker. most americans operate under a budget. americans need to know what the increases in their health care costs will be and what plan options are available. americans need to know the effects of this legislation will have on their lives and they need to know now. the administration has had four years to figure out and the only thing they figured out is they don't know what to do. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, yesterday the homeland security committee adopted my amendment to block a study of new fees for passengers and pedestrians crossing our borders. mr. higgins: a similar amendment was successfully included in the senate legislation last week. the consensus for blocking this tax is welcomed but not

surprising. cross-border travel is essential to the economic viability of border communities, including my own in western new york. last year three million canadians visited our region, spending nearly $1 billion. canadians rely on seamless travel at one of my district's five border crossings to travel from the buffalo niagara international airport, area businesses and to attend sporting and cultural events. mr. speaker, with the bipartisan support, bicameral support for this issue, i suggested language blocking the border fees should be included in the upcoming immigration reform legislation. this is a senseless tax, it's counterproductive and we should take every action to prevent it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker i rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of moses harrison, his judicial

successes have been well-chronicled. mr. shimkus: but he got elected to the illinois supreme court in 1992 and served for eight years before becoming the chief justice. however, there's probably more credible source than my mom who says that he was a nice gentle man. everyone who knew him liked him. i also appreciated his support in a letter for me to go to the military academy at west point. moses was very involved in local activities and also was involved with the episcopal church. mr. harrison was preceded in death busy his son, luke. he leaves behind his wife and son and four grandchildren who will greatly miss him. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, we are in dangerous and unchartered territory. at 400 parts per million, there

is now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than at anytime in the past three million years. here in the united states, more than a quarter of our green house gas emissions come from the transportation sector. so it's urgent that we make our cars and trucks cleaner. but also that we invest in clean modes of transportation such as rail. saturday was national train day which celebrates the rail networks that efficiently move freight and passengers across our country and reduce the number of cars on our roads. in california, we're building high-speed rail with renewable energy. when complete it will move millions of people far more quickly, cleanly and efficient than we do today. mr. huffman: in the north bay, we're connecting sonoma and moran county with 1.4 million fewer car trips along 101. investments in rail at the national scale can increase efficiency, reduce traffic and fight climate change. it's time for congress to get all aboard with this climate

solution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, this administration's repeated disregard for transparency and the rule of law should trouble every american. mr. speaker, the administration has accused congressional republicans of playing politics as we conduct oversight into the administration's failures before, during and after the terrorist attack in benghazi. this is hypocritical coming from an administration that already altered talking points to cover their own political agenda. and more recently, mr. speaker, we learned that the i.r.s. deliberately targeted conservative groups. the i.r.s. has the serious responsibility of collecting taxes and holding accountable those that cheat the system. and now it seems that they themselves are choosing when to follow the law. mr. speaker, the american people deserve more from their elected officials.

mr. holding: i hope as details of these events emerge, the american people will find out the truth, not just the administration's spin. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is ecognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i am pleased to be introducing the foster children opportunity act today. this legislation will ensure that abuse and neglected immigrant children have an opportunity to succeed in our country. it is supported by over 175 child welfare organizations. as we debate immigration reform, it is critical that we consider these children involved in the child welfare system. mr. o'rourke: this is a population that's especially vulnerable and frequently overlooked. despite being eligible for special forms of immigration relief, foster children are slipping through the cracks and leaving care without a resolution of their immigration issues. as a result, they cannot work reat of deportation back to a he

country they don't know, one where their abuser may still live. we owe these children better. my bill will make sure immigrant foster youth are assisted with resolving their immigration issues prior to leaving care and guarantees that they have access to programs such as medicaid that foster youth depend on to make a healthy transition into adulthood. may is national foster care month. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the foster children opportunity act. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, no single piece of legislation rests so squarely on a foundation of broken promises as the 2010 health care law known as obamacare. we were told that it would lower insurance rates to the tune of $2,500 per family. but we know not only is it not lowering rates, it's causing

rates to speak -- spike. 10%, 20%, even 30,%, 40% in some states. we were told it was going to be cost effective but now we know that the costs were purposely understated to mask the true cost of this nearly $2 trillion bill. we were told if you like your plan you can keep your plan. we now know the question is not whether millions of americans will lose their current plans but how many millions of americans will lose their current plans. this is what you get when you pass a 2,000-page bill before reading it. oh, and do you want the i.r.s. to be involved with your health care? obamacare is failing and the american people are paying the price for this failure. let's turn the page on obamacare and enact true patient-centered reform that benefits people, not bureaucrats. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition?

without objection, the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. according to the pentagon, about 26,000 service men and women were subjected to sexual assault while serving in this nation's military this past year. in fact, last year congress saw the lackland air force scandal unravel as instructors were accused of engaging in sexual relationships with 32 recruits. earlier this month an air force lieutenant colonel overseeing the sexual assault prevention program was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman while he was under the influence of alcohol. two days ago the pentagon revealed yet another sexual assault allegation against an army sergeant at fort hood who is currently under investigation for multiple charges including prostitution solicitation charges.

mr. speaker, we are talking about instructors, about lieutenant colonels, about sergeants, about people who have moved up in the ranks. i believe this highlights the underlying issue of leadership or the lack of in military leaders and we must hold them accountable. and i yield back, thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from kansas seek recognition? ms. jenkins: address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from kansas is recognized for one minute. ms. jenkins: the president tells americans to trust the government. but this week is loaded with reasons not to. take the new health care law. we were told it would lower costs and increase access. now we find premiums could increase by 400% and seven million who had insurance through their employers will lose it. this law will turn the i.r.s., caught in a scandal of its own,

into chief health care enforcers and it's proven so unpopular, h.h.s. secretary sebelius has resorted to soliciting contributions to promote obamacare from the same people this law authorizes her to regulate. if i got a call i'd feel pressure to ante up and in america this shouldn't happen. today i'm proud to support repealing this costly law, to keep the i.r.s. out of your health care and to work on replacing it with a patient-focused alternative that will actually help families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. butterfield: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the deep cuts once again being proposed by republicans to the snap program and the house farm bill. in july, 2012, the house agriculture committee reported a bipartisan farm bill that

included $16 billion in food stamp cuts. guess what? the speaker and the republican majority refused to schedule that bill for a vote. and so the agriculture committee has now marked up bill, this time with $20 billion in cuts to the snap program. why are you so determined to attempt deficit reduction on the backs of the poor and less fortunate in our society? the snap program helps families that have fallen on hard times and helps them feed their families until they can get back on their feet. i am very upset by these proposed cuts. i ask my republican colleagues to take a fresh look at what they're proposing and reconsider these cuts. cuts that will affect two million poor people, many of whom are children and the elderly. mr. speaker, we are a nation that helps the less fortunate. this is not who we are as a country. we are compassionate people and we should feed the hungry in times of need. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the house will again vote to address the patient protection and affordable care act. critics say that we're going at wind mills. let's review. in the last month we heard from the senator who authored the law, referred to it as a coming train wreck. that's right. he called it a train wreck. mr. dent: we've heard from the administration official responsible for helping set up the insurance exchanges worry that the public might be in for a third world experience. as they try to find health care. oh, and let us not forget some of the very same members of congress who voted to foist this massive overreach on americans are now trying to find ways to exempt themselves and their staffs from its effects. let's look at the check list, shall we? premiums shooting up, check. small businesses hiring fewer workers and jobs being lost,

check. employees seeing their hours cut, check. faulty cost projections, check. everything that opponents of this law listed as a reason to vote against this example of government overreach is occurring and happening. working to protect the american people from a disruptive law, certainly. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from alabama seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady from alabama is recognized for one minute. ms. sewell: mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to to be removed as a co-sponsor of h.r. 1550. i rise today in support of struggling families, low-income women and children across this nation and oppose the dangerously high cuts in the farm bill to snap programs. the current house version of the 2013 farm bill will have devastating effects on so many working families, especially in alabama. itens over 900,000 participant -- it threatens over 900,000

participants in my home state of alabama alone. these proposed cuts are unacceptable. while i understand that our nation faces a serious debt and deficit problem, we also face fragile economic recovery and families and children depend upon these government assistant programs, especially to the children in the state of alabama. i think that we are encroaching upon a dangerous trend of cuts on the backs of the people who can least afford to have those cuts. now is not the time to turn our backs on these struggling american families. we must work together and take action to protect all americans who depend upon these vital programs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. without objection, the gentlelady's request is granted. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. birlbirl thank you, mr. speaker -- mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr.

speaker. it is unacceptable that our nation's tax collectors have targeted organizations based solely on their political beliefs. our nation's strength depends on its citizens' freedom to organize and participate in the political process and no branch of government should be used to harass and unfairly judge the american people. the i.r.s.'s actions are not only troubling, but are also further eroding americans' trust in public institutions. that they may act ilpartially. it's unacceptable. this matter needs to be -- impartially. it's unacceptable. this matter needs to be actively investigated and those should be appropriately punished. we cannot allow people's difference in political opinion erode the rule of law. americans cannot and will not accept judgment based upon the political beliefs. we must prevent this discrimination from ever happening again. and i yield back, mr. speaker. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the

balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. if there's one thing this entire congress this entire can agree on, is the need to stand with our veterans. as a nation we're truly humbled by our service men and women. they make incredible and in some instances unimaginable sacrifices to protect our country. mr. delaney: and that feeling comes with an understanding that we have an obligation to provide our veterans with the benefits they've earned. among the most critical of these benefits are access to educational opportunities and work force training. to make sure that the current programs are working, our veterans need a voice. at the v.a. for that reason i'm honored to introduce the veterans advisory committee on education improvement act. this bipartisan legislation ex tends the veterans advisory committee -- extends the veterans advisory on education through 2015 and includes veterans of iraq and

afghanistan. the committee advises the v.a. on how to improve educational and job training programs. i thank my colleague and friend, mr. ren as iy, for co--- ren acy, for co-sponsoring this bill and i look toward its passionage. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. the sad tale of benghazi is a story of complacency, incompetence and coverup. coal coal complacency in -- mr. cole: complacency by the c.i.a. that the postwas in danger -- post was in danger. incompetence it preparing for a potential attack in a region in turmoil and the place where we had multiple military assets and on a day where we had ever reason to believe trouble would occur. and an attempted coverup of a successful terrorist attack with talk about videos and spontaneous riots from the state department, the c.i.a. and top officials in the administration

knew the truth. mr. speaker, it's time for the administration to take responsibility, come clean, and dismiss those associated with this debacle that cost the lives of four brave men -- americans. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today during asian-pacific heritage month to celebrate the life and achievements of congressman nalip sing song. congressman song was the first asian american member of congress. the very first member of a nonabrahamic faith and the first member born in asia. he was also our first sikh american to enter congress. mr. takano: he also represented my hometown of riverside, california, a community that i proudly represent today.

having come to california from india to pursue his education, he graduated with a masters and ph.d. in mathematics from the university of california-berkley. following his graduation, he worked as a farmer but was also a local activist. he spent years pursuing -- pushing to end naturalization restrictions for indians living in the united states. in 1950, he made a bold decision and entered local governments. in 1955, he decided to run for an open seat in congress and won. representing the empire from 1966 to 1963, he served on the foreign affairs and interior committees. unfortunately his promising career as a member of this distinguished body came to an abrupt end when he suffered a severe stroke in may, 1962. congressman song truly lived the american dream, an immigrant who came to america with dreams and aspirations of making a difference for himself and for

future generations. as the current representative i honor his legacy and impact on all americans. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: i ask unanimous consent approximate to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: the i.r.s. has admitted to targeting groups demanding donor lists, meeting minutes, personal member information, even facebook activity. the justice department was caught essentially spying on the associated press. and the white house continues to twist itself in knots, explaining why it misled the american public in the aftermath of benghazi. the administration's apologists are in a panic. they claim the president is not responsible for any of this wrongdoing. the president, who made a career touting government as the solution to almost every problem, now solicits our

understanding. it is difficult to manage. this is my shocked face. these scandals are byproducts of government too big for its britches and proves the i.r.s. should not be given more power to manage our health care. house republicans are committed to a smarter accountable government that works for the people and safeguards liberty against tyranny and bureaucratic incompetence. that starts with repealing obamacare. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. speaker, today i rise to voice my opposition to the proposed $20 billion in cuts to the supplemental nutrition program, also known

as the snap program. this program currently provides food assistance to 47 million americans who otherwise would not have access to one of the most basic human necessary its, food. two million low-income americans, most of whom are working families with children, senior citizens and people with disabilities, will lose their food assistance as a result of these cuts. of that number, 200,000 children would also lose access to their free school meals because their eligibility for these meals are tied to their receipt of snap. let me ask my republican colleagues, how often do your children have to learn on empty stomaches or come home and study on empty stomaches? i dare say not often, if ever, but that is what the republicans are doing we do to close to a quarter of a million children. they are asking them not only to learn on empty stomaches but also to come home and study on empty stomaches.

this cannot stand. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, this month the united states' bureau of land management indefinitely canceled all oil and gas leases in california. this includes 1,278 acres of prime oil and natural gas land in fresno county located in my district, california 1. this land is part of the monterrey shale formation. it contains 2/3 of our country's shale oil reserves, the equivalent of 14.4 billion barrels of oil. -- this would have a

significant impact on my district which faces chronic unemployment for years. mr. valadao: this will suspend all future let's sales in california. this decision has made despite these leases proside significant revenue for the federal government. this is just another example of the administration using sequestration to further their environmental policy agenda at the expense of american families. b.l.m.'s efforts to prevent energy development are depriving my constituents of quality jobs and increasing energy across the country. this is bad they are halting lease options in regions -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. valadao: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> as i watch the farm bills move forward in the house and

senate, i'm very saddened about the disregard for our fellow americans. ms. meng: cutting our nation's safety net will only further the suffering of disadvantaged children and senior citizens across the country. many of the recipients in my district who rely on snap to lift their families out of poverty and combat what would otherwise be certain malnutrition of their children, for many of these families, this is the only form of income assistance they receive. 80% of them fall below the poverty line. reducing benefits would have a terrible effect on millions of americans. in addition to funds ending, further cuts are not warranted. although the recipients of snap don't have an association to represent them here in washington, i have come to the floor today to let them know that they are not being forgotten in this fight and that many representatives will continue to battle on their

behalf. thank you. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, it is becoming clearer by the day that obamacare is lacking american. it will cost almost $ trillion, cut medicare by $716 billion. despite the president's statement that premiums will decrease by $,500 under obamacare, the average family premium has grown over $3,000 and climbing. over 30 studies have concluded that law will make health care premiums more unaffordable for americans. furthermore, young adults could see their premiums increase between 145% and 189% next year. mr. gibbs: even democrats are beginning to jump off the obamacare band wagan. kathleen sebelius the result of

bill. can we really trust them to be in charge of our health care? the bottom line is the president's health care law is a bad one. they're citing it for reasons for layoffs and reason for not expanding jobs. let's support repeal and replace. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii seek recognition? ms. gabbard: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. gabbard: we have an epidemic. i rise to highlight a bipartisan and bicameral piece of legislation that will stem the growing number of sexual assaults on men and women in the military. this is absolutely unacceptable. in every branch of the military from day one, our service members are instilled with the values of honor, respect and

integrity. it's what makes us proud to wear the uniform and it's what makes our military strong. however, this epidemic completely undermines what these values and our service members represent. this morning i joined a strong group of committed ledge salutors to introduce the military support act which would ensure that sexual predators are exposed and punished accordingly. we in congress and leaders in the department of defense must keep the pressure on. together we must foster a respectful productive environment for our military men and women. the success of our armed forces and the security they provide our nation depends on it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. this is' an article that came

out march 15, 2013, from health care i.t. news. a lawsuit resting. against the i.r.s. because the i.r.s., it says, stole health records of some 10 million americans, including the medical records of all california state judges. knowing california, i bet most of them are democrats. they took their medical records. so the allegation, the lawsuit is over that. 10 million americans' records. it doesn't matter what party they are. it doesn't matter what their political beliefs are. they have a right to have their own records kept private until obamacare fully kicks in. i want to know why the i.r.s. would take those medical records so prematurely, because

when obamacare kicks in, the federal government has everybody's records already. it's time to repeal it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. speaker, i rise today not to offer my own words about the republicans' major cuts to food stamps. instead, i want to allow my constituents to speak directly to the house republican leadership. one of my constituents asked, how would i live if food stamps were cut? another said, there are a lot of people who would go hungry without food stamps. if the help i received now for food stamps were cut, it would affect me and my kids while i'm trying to finish my college degree. in these hard times, food pantries get me through the week.

to see your own kids starve and not be able to feed them is one of the worst pains a parent can experience. if food stamps were cut off, my 4-year-old brother and i would have to go to sleep hungry. we would also have to miss meals. this would be unfair considering he's only 4 and i'm only 15. these stories are heartbreaking anserve evidence why ing food stamp programs would really affect people's lives. to my colleagues, i leave you with this last one. please don't stop helping people. please don't stop helping people. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the end of the civil war in she lanka on may 18 -- sri lanka on may 18, 2009.

mr. johnson: the last stages had war crimes, including the government's treatment of civilians within no fire zones, attacks that were -- they established a commission of inquiry to investigate the events of the 26-year civil war. however, this commission had no accountability and yielded little explanation for the families, the victims or the international community. we're left with the task of identifying what really happened during the last years of this terrible civil war and to hold accountable those who have committed war crimes. we also face the challenge of brokering peace in a a country torn apart by civil -- in a country torn apart by civil war. i ask they promote human rights, particularly before hosting the commonwealth heads of government meeting in november. and with that i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. hahn: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, three years after the affordable care act was signed into law, a law that is already helping millions of americans, our friends on the other side of the aisle are wasting time again on a pointless, symbolic vote that will never become law and takes us backwards. for the 37th time, our colleagues are forcing us to vote on repealing the affordable care act. when they know, they know it has no chance of succeeding. for the 37th time, they're voting to allow insurance companies to deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. for the 37th time, they're voting to roll back our efforts to allow insurance companies to charge women more just because they're women. and for the 37th time, they're voting to strip small businesses of protections against the skyrocketing

insurance premiums we faced long before the a.c.a. insanity is when one attempts to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. this is wrong for the 37th time and a waste of our time. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the entlelady's time has expired. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i rise for a point of order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state the point of order. mr. takano: i realize that h.r. 45 and its rule have not been brought up for consideration, ut i wish to object to the concern of consideration and the rule, governing debate on the bill, because it violates rule 1, clause 7, section c, which states, quote, a bill or joint resolution may not be introduced unless the sponsor submits for

printing in the congressional record a statement citing as specifically as practicable the power or powers granted to congress in the constitution to enact the bill or joint resolution, end quote. the constitutional authority statement submitted with h.r. 45 argues that congress is granted the authority to enact this legislation because of the 10th amendment. the 10th amendment does not grant congress the authority to act. it limits congressional power. it states, quote, the powers not delegated to the united states by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people, end quote. citing the 10th amendment does not satisfy the rule. experts at the congressional research service agree. in a recent report, they stated, quote, the 10th amendment is not an affirmative grant of authority to congress, rather it is a limitation or disability on congress' authority to legislate. hence, because the house rule

ir a statement citing the power or powers granted to congress, not merely a statement of constitutional provisions, citations to the 10th amendment do not appear to satisfy the requirements of the house rule. so, mr. speaker, the constitutional authority statement for the bill before us today does not comply with the house rules and i ask the bill and the rule not be considered until this problem is fixed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's point of order is not timely. neither house resolution 215 nor house resolution 45 is pending at this time. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his point of parliamentary inquiry. mr. polis: the underlying bill's constitutional authority statement cites the 10th amendment and as such it fails to live up to the -- to this rule of the house. and tries to perpetuate -- perpetuate the false myth that the affordable care act is unconstitution allege. mr. speaker, the supreme court

has herd the case, they've made their decision, the affordable care act is constitutional and speaker boehner has said it's the law of the land. the constitutional authority statement for this bill is completely inaccurate. it's a 37th time we're voting to repeal or defund the affordable care act but apparently we still can't get the paperwork right. how does a member correct the statement of constitutional authority? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has not been recognized to engage in debate. does the gentleman have a point of parliamentary inquiry? mr. polis: further parliamentary inquiry. has the house ever voted to repeal and hold in part another piece of legislation 37 times like we're doing here today? in this case, a piece of legislation that makes it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against a woman if she becomes pregnant and make sure that children under the age of 26 can stay on their parents' health care plan? the speaker pro tempore: the chair does not place proceed hgs

in a historical context. it is not a proper parliamentary inquiry. mr. polis: is it correct that the house republican budget maintained $1. trillion of tax increases included in the affordable care act and $716 billion in cuts of medicare and in fact this very budget that we operate under would not have balanced without including these savings in taxes from obamacare? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's point of parliamentary inquiry is not relevant to any pending business before the house. mr. polis: further parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. mr. polis: is the house here this week spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money to repeal the affordable care act because it actually believes that that will occur while president obama is in the white house? or because freshmen republicans want to score political points back home? the speaker pro tempore: the chair does not respond to points of parliamentary inquiry under the guise of public commentary. mr. polis: i trust the american people will respond to these questions.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. burgess: mr. speaker, by direction of committee of the rules, i call up house resolution 215 and for its immediate consideration. the clerk: house calendar number 24, house resolution 215, resolved that upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 45, to repeal the patient protection and affordable care act and health care-related provisions in the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. the amendment printed in the report of the committee on rules, accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted. the bill as amended shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill as amended and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervenings

motion except one, two hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the respective chairs and ranking minority members of the committees on education and the work force, energy and commerce and ways and means and, two, one motion to recommit with or without instructions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one hour. mr. burgess: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purposes of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlelady from new york, ms. slaughter, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burgess: during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only. and, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. burgess: house resolution 215 provides for a rule to consider the full repeal of the flawed and ill-conceived and inappropriately named affordable care act. a bill whose final language was

written by staff in the senate finance committee and the actual legislative text of which received not a single committee hearing or markup in this body. while many hearings and markups were held on other iterations of other health care bills, the legislation that was signed by the president received not a single moment of scrutiny in this house and contained none of the bipartisan amendments that were accepted during the markups of other health care bills, including the bill h.r. 3200 which passed the house but was never considered by the senate. as such, only a full repeal is acceptable and that is what this rule provides for. the rule provides for two hours of debate. controlled by the committees on energy and commerce, ways and means and education and the work force. further, the rule self-executes the bachmann amendment which provides for a clean repeal of the entire a.c.a. consistent with the provisions of the

opening day rules package of this congress. the rule further provides the minority's one motion to recommit with or without instructions. this approach, a full repeal, will give the house, particularly members who were not here the past two congresses, an opportunity to have an up or down d vote, an affirmation or denial of the affordable care act. americans should have the freedom to make their own health care decisions. in march of 2010, the patient protection and affordable care act was signed into law. it was drafted quickly behind closed doors at the end of 2009. behind closed doors in the other body, in fact. it included secret deals, loopholes, drafting errors and allowed the federal -- and allowed entirely new federal agencies to be created without congressional knowledge or oversight. the bottom line, it was not the way to achieve meaningful reform. in addition, the supreme court ruled last year, last june, that the law is in fact a tax. this is after president obama

continually told the american people that it was not a tax. the health care system in america needs reform, it needs improvement, but the law that was passed will cost american taxpayers and patients millions of dollars. it will not improve care and it will not make care more affordable. we need to start, we need to start fresh and address the issues with commonsense improvements that will focus on the real issues at hand, creating a health care system that is focused on patients instead of payment, quality instead of quanltity, affordability instead of cheapness and innovation instead of stagnation. the first step is eliminating bad legislation that simply does not work and today stands in the way of any real improvement. that is why today i strongly support the repeal of the president's health care law. the president did repeated littell us that the penalty associated with the individual mandate was not a tax. it was repeated several times in the runup to this bill being signed.

in june the supreme court affirmed that the only way that this bill could remain law was because it is indeed a tax. and congress has the infinite power to tax. in county fashion congress can tax morning, noon and night. it can tax the american people back to the stone age if that's what it wishes. and that's what the affordable care act does. when millions are unemployed, this is indeed the last thing we need. and it's not just the tax. it's the effect on premiums. up on the energy and commerce website this week, a study showing how the effect of the affordable care act is going to affect premiums in the individual market, the small group market and the large group market. and almost uniformly those premiums are going up and in some cases they're going up a staggering amount. last summer the supreme court's decision leaves in place a costly an unworkable health care scheme that is hurting america's families. it's hurting america's workers, hurting america's job creators and damaging america's patience.

we will all have to live with that ruling. if we do not repeal then we have to live with the law as written. the time has come to step up and do the right thing. i urge support of the rule. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. good afternoon. i thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you. mr. speaker, before i discuss the value of the affordable care act, commonly referred to as obamacare, i must acknowledge the sad fact that this will be the 37th time in 41 months, almost once a month, that the majority's voted to repeal or defund the law and they know that will not happen. recent estimates are that each ote to repeal or to defund the affordable care act has cost $1.45 million in taxpayer money. so, today's debate will bring the total cost of repeal votes

, wake up there, $53 million and counting. now, why would the majority waste our tax dollars? think we what we could do with $53 million. the agriculture bill we all talked about this million took $20 billion out of food stamps. while we waste that kind of money here, doing a bill month after month after month that we know is not going anywhere. but we don't have any positive agenda to put forward here. for the last two or three months all we've done are one-house bills that everybody knows are not goings to get passed and it really is a tragedy because a c.b.s. study says it costs $25 million a week just to run the congress. and how deplorable that kind of waste is with all the problems we have in the country. we're told that the freshmen republicans would like once again to have an opportunity to vote to kill health care.

i wonder if the freshmen republicans, as i know the freshmen democrats do, wouldn't like to vote to let the sequester? or maybe do a jobs bill which we haven't had in 2 1/2 years. but we're not going to do anything either about the budget which we heard all the time, why doesn't the senate do a budget? the senate has done a budget. the senate has asked over and over again for the house to appoint conferees so we can get the budget put together and pass it into law. no action there either. but because the sequester cuts, at least 70,000 children have been denied access to early education. thousands of cancer patients have been denied their regular cancer treatments. the majority say they're holding today's vote so the freshmen can repeal the affordable care act. i wish to goodness that they would give them something that will really pass and something good to vote on. instead of voting to repeal the sequester, the majority's voting for the 37th time to repeal a law that, and this is very important, what this law has

done already. it has given 100 million americans access to free, preventive health care measures such as mammograms and colonoscopies. that's 100 million already. they're voting for the 37th time to repeal a law that saves seniors $6.1 billion in prescription drug costs already. they're voting for the 37th time to repeal a law that is providing $3.-- has provided 3.1 million young adults with health insurance that they otherwise could not afford already. the affordable care act has been particularly beneficial for america's women. did you know that prior to the pass and of this law, in eight states, and the district of columbia, domestic violence was classified as a pre-existing condition and you could be denied insurance? they were denied that because they had been abused and perhaps they would be again. did you know that thanks to a practice called gender rating women were charged as much as 46% more in premiums for the

same level of insurance as a man? maybe not, maybe you didn't know that. but lots of women in the country are getting repay thes bore that very reason -- rebates for that very reason. because of the affordable care act, both of these discriminatory practices have been outlawed. in addition, the affordable care act is already returned money to the pockets of millions of women thanks to the rebates required by insurance companies under the health care law. and finally, the affordable care act outlaws lifetime and yearly limits, insidious insurance practices that capped the amount of health care and insurance a company would provide. . because of health care reform americans no longer have to worry they will be denied health care they need simply because insurance companies refuse to pay for their continued care. did you know that 85% of your premium dollar will go to health care not to other things that the insurance companies want to spen